Review: Burger King - Rodeo Sandwiches

Burger King's Rodeo Sandwiches come with either a burger or breaded chicken patty plus three onion rings and barbecue sauce on a toasted sesame bun.

I bought one of each for $1 a piece.

News: Einstein Noah - New Thintastic Bagel Free on January 15, 2014

Einstein Noah (i.e. Einstein Bros. and Noah's Bagels) kicks off the new year with new Thintastic Bagels and will be giving them away with schmear on January 15, 2014 only via coupon.

News: Pizza Hut Testing Pizza by the Slice

Pizza Hut is testing pizza by the slice as a possible future offering at two locations starting tomorrow.

According to this AP story, each slice will cost between $2 to $3 and take about three to four minutes to heat (which is about the same as for your standard neighborhood pizzeria but slower than the 90 seconds of the Turbo Chef ovens 7-Eleven has been using) and will require new ovens to do the heating.

News: Domino's - Half-Off Any Pizza Ordered Online Through January 19, 2014

Domino's is once again running one of their half-off deals good on any regularly-priced pizza ordered online starting today and running through Sunday, January 19, 2014.

If you've been wondering why these type of pizza deals tend to be online only, one of the reasons is that it frees up an employee from having to take orders on the phone instead of making pizzas.

Review: Nestle - Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups

Nestle's new Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups seek to topple great King Reese's and sit atop the peanut butter cup throne (or at least grab a sizable piece of the pie). It's a milk chocolate-covered peanut butter cup with bits of Butterfinger crisps inside.

I bought a 1.5-ounce package for 89 cents.

Around the World: McDonald's Hong Kong Partners with Ferrero for New McCafe Menu

McDonald's Hong Kong has partnered with Italian chocolatier Ferrero to introduce their limited-time McCafe x Ferrero Collection Golden Moments series. The menu features two coffees and one cake with similar flavors as certain Ferrero chocolates.

News: Sonic - New Salsa Verde Breakfast Burrito and Toaster Sandwich

Sonic is adding some green (verde in Spanish) to their all-day breakfast menu with the new, limited-time Salsa Verde Breakfast Burrito and Salsa Verde Breakfast Toaster sandwich.

Sonic's salsa verde features a tangy blend of fire-roasted tomatillos, onions, jalapenos, and roasted garlic.

Review: General Mills - Caramel Bugles

General Mills' Caramel Bugles embraces the sweet and salty trend that apparently some consumers are hankering for. They feature the bugle-shaped corn crisps coated with caramel.

A 6-ounce bag was $1.50 on sale.

Around the World: Dunkin' Donuts India Offers New Tough Guy Burgers

Dunkin' Donuts goes for the male demographic in India with new Tough Guy Burgers. Accompanied by the tagline "Get Your Mojo Back!", the new sandwiches come in both a relatively stacked vegetarian and non-vegetarian (i.e. chicken) version.

The key descriptors that Dunkin' is going with for the sandwich are "rugged," "huge," and "spicy."

Around the World: McDonald's Germany Wants Customers to Hunt for Their Food... Kinda

McDonald's is giving away 500,000 Big Macs in Germany but only to those who are game enough to hunt down the ingredients via QR codes using a special "Big Mac Hunting" smartphone app.

Frozen Friday: IHOP at Home - French Toast Breakfast Sandwich

IHOP at Home's French Toast Breakfast Sandwich features maple sausage, egg, and cheese sandwiched between two slices of French Toast. They're currently only available at Walmart for now.

A 19.2-ounce box contains 4 sandwiches and cost $4.97.

News: Carl's Jr. - Jumbo Chili Dogs Return to SoCal

In honor of founder Carl Karcher's January birthday, participating Carl's Jr. restaurants in the greater Los Angeles and Orange County areas will once again be offering limited-time Jumbo Chili Dogs at two for $3.

Each Jumbo Chili Dog features a Farmer John hot dog nestled in a toasted hot dog bun along with spicy beef chili, chopped onions, and mustard.

News: White Castle - New Potato Bacon Chowder

White Castle is offering new Potato Bacon Chowder for the cold winter months.

The new soup features a thick, creamy chowder with chunks of potatoes, veggies, and bacon crumbles. It's available daily from 10:30 am to 11 pm for a limited time only (until early spring or while supplies last) at all White Castle locations.

Review: Popeyes - Bayou Buffalo Wicked Chicken

Popeyes' Bayou Buffalo Wicked Chicken throws some Buffalo sauce onto their limited-time Wicked Chicken offering. Basically, they're thin-cut strips of fried chicken breast tossed in buffalo sauce.

It was $3.99 for a combo that came with Cajun fries and a biscuit.

News: Dickey's Barbecue - New Cornbread Sandwiches

Dickey's Barbecue adds new, limited-time Spicy Chicken and Sweet Pork Cornbread Sandwiches heading into the new year.

The new sandwiches' key feature is a new buttery cornbread bun.

News: Panda Express- Firecracker Chicken Returns for Chinese New Year's

In what's become an annual ritual, Firecracker Chicken Breast is back at Panda Express. The dish usually makes its appearance in celebration of Chinese New Year, which happens to fall on January 31 this time around.

News: El Pollo Loco - Under 500 Calories Menu

El Pollo Loco starts the new year with the new 5 Under 500 Calories Menu.

Like the name suggests there are five entrees on the menu and they each clock in at less than 500 calories.

The entrees are:

Review: Starbucks - Caramel Flan Latte

Starbucks' Caramel Flan Latte is made with steamed milk, espresso, caramel flan-flavored syrup, and topped with caramel-infused whipped cream and a caramelized sugar drizzle.

I bought a 12-ounce Tall for $3.95.

Around the World: Lotteria - New Chocolate French Fry Dipping Sauce

Japanese fast food chain Lotteria's latest promotion is a Ghana chocolate-themed promotion featuring a chocolate turnover-style pie, a chocolate shake... and a chocolate dipping sauce for their French fries.

News: Applebee's Adds Two New Dishes to Under 550 Calories Menu

Applebee's ushers in the new year by pushing their Under 550 Calories Menu (of course) with two new entrees: Roma Pepper Steak and Savory Cedar Salmon.

Roma Pepper Steak features a grilled 7-ounce sirloin steak topped with a chunky Roma pepper relish with a grilled portobello mushroom stuffed with white wine artichoke cheese spread and red potatoes on the side.

News: Tim Hortons - New Turkey Sausage Breakfast Sandwiches

Like rival Dunkin' Donuts, Tim Hortons now offers turkey sausage with the recent addition of new Turkey Sausage Breakfast Sandwiches.

The sandwiches are made to order and come with a choice of seasoned egg or egg white omelet plus cheese on either an English muffin, flatbread panini or homestyle biscuit.

Review: Del Taco - Turkey Taco

Del Taco's Turkey Taco features seasoned ground turkey, lettuce, shredded cheese, and pico de gallo in a crunchy taco shell (it's also available in a soft flour tortilla but I prefer the hard shell).

The Turkey Taco costs $1.29 each (30 cents more than the similarly proportioned Double Beef Classic Taco), but I received this one courtesy of Del Taco.

News: The Coffee Bean - New Latte Macchiato

The Coffee Bean starts off the new year with the new, limited-time Latte Macchiato. 

Like Starbucks' so-called Macchiato (which the new drink is almost identical), the new drink is a twist on the traditional caffe macchiato (macchiato literally means "marked" in Italian), albeit one whose name makes a little more sense.

News: Sonic - 99-cent Large Drinks and Slushes Before 10 am

While Afternoon Happy Hour with half-price drinks is a stalwart of the Sonic menu, Sonic recently added a deal where you can order any large fountain drink or slush for only 99 cents but only before 10 am. They call the deal the Morning Drink Stop.

News: KFC - 10-Piece Favorites Bucket for $12.99

As part of the launch for new Extra Crispy Boneless Chicken, KFC is offering the 10-piece Favorites Bucket for $12.99.

Like the name suggests, you can choose 10 pieces of chicken (a mix of legs, wings, breast, and thighs) in any of the varieties offered by KFC (Original Recipe and Extra Crispy in bone-in or boneless varieties, and Grilled).

News: Starbucks - New Via Instant Lattes

Starbucks adds milk to their Via brand of instant coffee with new Via Vanilla Latte and Caffe Mocha flavors.

To add some creaminess to the microground coffee, they've gone with a "natural dairy" powder. Like most varieties of Starbucks Via (and most instant coffees for the matter), you need only add hot water to make a cup.

Review: KFC - Extra Crispy Boneless Chicken

KFC's new, limited-time Extra Crispy Boneless Chicken is pretty much like their Extra Crispy fried chicken but without the bones.

I picked up one piece as part of a Go Cup for $2.49.

News: Dunkin' Donuts - New Sliced Turkey Breakfast Sandwich

Dunkin' Donuts targets your new year's resolution to eat better with the introduction of the new Sliced Turkey Breakfast Sandwich featuring a new, toasted multigrain flatbread folded around three slices of turkey, reduced fat cheddar cheese, and pepper egg whites.

The sandwich is also available in a Wake-Up Wrap version with egg, cheese, and one slice of turkey wrapped in a flour tortilla.

News: Del Taco - New Turkey Tacos

While turkey burgers have long been a "better-for-you" fast food option (or reasonable facsimile for non-beef-eaters), turkey tacos are pretty new to the scene and Del Taco's new Turkey Tacos are a first among Mexican fast food chains.

Review: Nabisco - Original Rice Thins

As a gluten-free analog to their Wheat Thins brand, Nabisco introduced Rice Thins last year. The Original flavor features rice crackers made with just three ingredients: white rice flour, high oleic safflower oil, and salt.

A 3.5-ounce box was $1.99 on sale.

News: Wendy's Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger Slated for February

Wendy's bun experiments continue: Coming February, it looks like Wendy's plans to introduce the new, limited-time Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger.

The new burger features a quarter-pound beef patty, oven-roasted, chopped tomatoes, rosemary-garlic aioli, spring mix, natural Asiago cheese, and applewood-smoked bacon on a toasted Ciabatta bun.

News: El Pollo Loco - New $10 Loco Variety Pack

El Pollo Loco looks to cater to sport watchers and party-goers (or both) with the introduction of the new Loco Variety Pack.

For $10, you get 4 BRC (beans, rice, and cheese) burritos and 4 Tacos al Carbon (soft corn tortillas filled with chopped flame-grilled chicken, diced onions, and cilanto). along with all the salsa you want from their salsa bar.

News: KFC - New Extra Crispy Boneless Chicken

KFC welcomes the new year with new, limited-time Extra Crispy Boneless Chicken.

Available through February 2, 2014, the new chicken is crispier than Original Recipe Boneless and features a different spice mix.

Review: Hostess - Banana Twinkies

Hostess Banana Twinkies feature the classic golden sponge snack cake with a banana-flavored creme filling. According to the box, it's an "artificially flavored banana creamy filling." They're a limited-time Walmart-exclusive.

A 13.58-ounce box of 10 cakes was $3.99.

Around the World: McDonald's Japan Retro USA Menu Little Resembles Retro USA

McDonald's Japan starts a retro-styled "American Vintage" menu this Monday featuring six new burgers representing different time periods of the US. Specifically, the '50s, '70s, and '80s will be represented (or at least hearkened back to). Basically, they've moved on from regional "American" burgers to burgers from specific time periods.

Around the World: Frito Lay Japan - New Mountain Dew Cheetos

It looks like the latest crazy Frito Lay snack flavor to come out of Japan is a limited-edition Mountain Dew Cheetos snacks. Well, it's more like Cheeto-like as there's no cheese and the corn snacks are instead powdered with a fizzy Mountain Dew-flavor powders.

Apparently, they taste like "sweet lemon lime chips."

The move is probably not a huge surprise as Frito Lay is the same company that introduced Pepsi-flavored Cheetos last year.

Frozen Friday: Safeway Select - BBQ Pulled Pork

Safeway Select's Pulled Pork in BBQ Sauce frozen meal features shredded pork in a sweet barbecue sauce served with a side of macaroni and cheese.

An 8-ounce box was $1.99.

News: Jamba Juice - New Whole Food Nutrition Smoothies

Jamba Juice offers new Whole Food Nutrition smoothies as the new year begins and are promoting them with a coupon that discounts them to $2 a piece.

So named because of the whole fruits or veggies that go into making them, the new line up consists of the following smoothies:

News: Burger King - Free Coffee with Any Breakfast Sandwich Purchase

Burger King looks to keep their breakfast customers caffeinated with the offer of free coffee with any breakfast sandwich purchase.

The limited-time deal is only good for a small 12-ounce hot coffee and only during breakfast hours (which tends to run until 10:30 or 11:00 at most BK restaurants). A small cup of coffee typically goes for $1 at Burger King.

News: Baskin-Robbins - January 2014 Flavor of the Month

Baskin-Robbins goes with a cinema theme in introducing Movie Theater Popcorn ice cream as their January 2014 Flavor of the Month.

The flavor features butter popcorn-flavored ice cream with buttered popcorn-flavored rice crisps pieces and a salty caramel ribbon.

Review: Jack in the Box - New Southern Style Biscuit

Jack in the Box recently updated their biscuits with a new recipe and have taken to calling them "Southern Style" Biscuits.

They're currently promoting them with either bacon or sausage plus a fried egg and cheese at 2 for $3 (normally $2.99 each).

News: Starbucks - New Caramel Flan Latte

Starbucks is offering up the limited-time Caramel Flan Latte as their first new drink of the new year. It features espresso, steamed milk, and caramel flan-flavored syrup stirred together, topped with caramel-infused whipped cream and a caramel flan drizzle.

News: Dairy Queen - January 2014 Blizzard of the Month

Dairy Queen ushers in the new year with the new Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Pie Blizzard as January's Blizzard of the Month.

The new Blizzard is basically Dairy Queen's standard Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard with the addition of graham cracker pie crust. Specifically, it's vanilla soft serve, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and pie crust blended together.

News: IHOP - All-You-Can-Eat Pancakes Back for January

All-You-Cat-Eat-Pancakes are back at IHOP for a limited time this January.

Available only on the chain's signature buttermilk pancakes, they can be ordered as either "just pancakes" or as part of a combo with the standard breakfast fixings (various combinations of egg, sausage, bacon, hash browns, etc.).

News: Krispy Kreme - New Cheesecake Donuts

Krispy Kreme rings in the new year with two new, limited-time Cheesecake Donuts at participating Krispy Kreme locations in the US and Canada.

Review: Carl's Jr. - Philly Cheesesteak Burger

Carl's Jr. Philly Cheesesteak Burger features thinly-sliced steak, grilled onions, green peppers, Swiss and American cheeses, mayo, and a beef patty (in various sizes and number) on a plain or fresh-baked bun (depending on which version you go with). It's also available at sister chain Hardee's.

The Six-Dollar version was $5.89 but I received this one courtesy of Carl's Jr.

News: Outback - Free Bloomin' Onion with Any Purchase on January 2, 2014

Outback Steakhouse will be celebrating LSU's (Lousiana State University) football game victory in this year's Outback Bowl by giving out free Bloomin' Onion appetizers with any purchase tomorrow, Thursday, January 2, 2014.

You can take advantage of the deal by uttering the words "Outback Bowl" to your server.

News: Papa John's - 30-cent Large 1-Topping Pizza with Any Regular Large Pizza Purchase

Papa John's is celebrating their 30th anniversary by a limited-time deal where you can buy a large 1-topping pizza for 30 cents when you buy any large pizza at regular price.

News: Pizza Hut - 50% Off Pizzas Online Through January 10th

Pizza Hut is celebrating 20 years of online ordering by offering 50% off large and medium pizzas ordered online but only if you sign up or are signed up to their Hut Lovers email list.

The deal is only good through Friday, January 10, 2014.

News: Subway - January 2014 Featured $5 Footlong

Subway's $5 Featured Footlong to kick off 2014 this month is any regular sub. They're doing one of their "any" sub promotions and since it's January, they're calling it "JanuANY."